I'LL GO AND COME BACK

The tender relationship between a grandmother and a grandchild extends beyond distance and language.

When young Jyoti visits family in India, everything feels so different than in America. Although Jyoti and Sita Pati don’t speak more than a few words in each other’s language, Sita Pati reaches out, and the two bond. When Jyoti is sad to leave India, Sita Pati offers some comfort: the Tamil phrase poitu varen—I'll go and come back—used in place of the word goodbye. Later, when Sita Pati visits, Jyoti introduces her to life in America as once again they play, read, and cook together. The simple yet heartfelt text makes excellent connections between the fun they have in India and in America—in India, they prepare and eat chapatis, while in America they cook quesadillas; in India, they create Rangoli designs, while in America, they play hopscotch. Illustrations, done in gouache and acrylic and assembled digitally, exude tenderness as they depict Jyoti, Sita Pati, and their family in warm brown skin tones with dark hair. And their sweet promise of poitu varen can help any young child with family far away. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A loving depiction of familial connection between generations.